Through the hundreds of sketches and prototypes, Beck says that
the search giant is "the most interesting place" she's ever
worked as a designer.

"It’s like the heavens have opened up and you just have all these
resources," she says.

She has full-access to a 3D printer, and while she and her
partner nailed down the final design for the Chromecast, they
would constantly finish quick 'n' dirty designs by day and then
print them overnight. She also describes the treasure-hunt-like
nature of working with Google's various engineers and
researchers: "You can consult with the most talented, intelligent
people you've ever met in your life — you just have to know where
to find them."

The design process at Google is packed with user research,
data-crunching, and gut instinct.

Beck says that some of the early Chromecast designs seem wacky in
retrospect.

"We tried stuff that would bend and then retain shape, we had
stuff that snapped together ..." Beck says. "There were so many
times we would have a prototype that we'd just look at and
realize, 'Wow, I actually hate this.'"

Here are some of her sketches:

Here are some
sketches.Google

Beck also adds that it's "an exciting time for Google hardware,"
and that the company has started hiring more and more "rock star
industrial designers."

To convince designers to come to the Googleplex, though, the
company has had to shed its old stereotype.

Until 2011, when Larry Page took back the CEO title, the
company's design
principals revolved entirely around data. Hardly anyone cared
whether products looked or felt nice, as long as they were
efficient and accurate. When Page declared in 2011 that Google
would start prioritizing user experience and making products look
pretty, employees felt like it was an "almost hallucinatory
moment,"
according to Fast Company.

The company's biggest design change since came in 2014 when it
introduced "material design," an overhauled aesthetic that's
sleeker and more brightly colored than its previous look. That
switch influenced Beck's color choices for Chromecast: black,
"lemonade," and "coral."

She adds that since she arrived, she's felt more and more
appreciation for her role from other product-focused employees.

"Even in the two years that I’ve been here I sense it, more and
more, I hear, ‘When can we get industrial design involved?' even
earlier," she says. "There’s so much work to be done here at
Google, because there are so many projects going on at once."

Ultimately, though, Beck focuses less on her "albino deer" status
and more on doing the work she loves.